RSSWindows XP SP2 Grace Period Expires
by David Worthington
The April 12, 2005 deadline passed Tuesday and Microsoft has followed through with its pledge to revoke the grace period that provided enterprise customers the option to postpone the adoption of Windows XP Service Pack 2. The update, which fortifies Windows with a variety of new security enhancements, will now be pushed to customers and has become a requirement to receive future upgrades.
In response to a chorus of widespread customer feedback insisting that SP2 could prove disruptive to mission critical applications, Microsoft made several support tools available that temporarily blocked the delivery of SP2 via Automatic Updates and forestalled Windows Update installations.
The grace period was given so that customers like IBM could validate and test installations prior to deploying SP2 in production environments, Microsoft said at the time. To further assist its customers in the transition to SP2, Microsoft publicly disclosed a list of known incompatibilities at its support Web site.
Customers still may block SP2 installation by turning off Automatic Update completely, but in doing so will lose the ability to apply future Windows upgrades, including a batch of critical security updates that were released today.
A recent study by AssetMetrix released major findings that businesses were slow to adopt SP2, reporting that less than a quarter of businesses surveyed have implemented the update. The study surveyed 251 North American companies with approximately 131,000 computers.
"I know of a number of businesses that still aren't ready for Service Pack 2. I attribute delays largely to compatibility concerns and general inertia. For many larger businesses, the 'if it ain't broke don't mess with it' rule applies," Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox told BetaNews.
Many of these risk-adverse operations see the potential problems installing a major service pack -- one more like an OS upgrade -- as outweighing the perceived benefits. That said, Microsoft had to draw a line somewhere. If the company didn't make a deadline, based on enterprise behavior with other Windows versions, many customers would take years to update," Wilcox added.
Some of SP2's new functional attributes include an updated version of Internet Explorer with a built-in pop-up blocker; memory and CPU-based protection against buffer overruns; e-mail safeguards in Outlook Express; a stateful inspection firewall; refined permissions in RPC and DCOM; Windows Security Center; and new security settings for Windows Media Player 9.
30 Comments
I have a computer that will download the updates but when they go to install they fail. Even if I download them manually and then try to install. I think my WindowsXP machine knows better then to have SP2 or any updates by MS installed on it.
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lol. good job :p
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...and it will STAY off.
Updates will be evaluated and installed as required.
I do not and never will trust a vendor to arbitrarily update my machines.
I'm FAR too experienced after 15 years in the biz to do that.
I look forward to reading with considerable amusement the follies of those who chose otherwise - they will be most entertaining.
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As we will be when you post your whines when you are attacked by the next malware of the week.
There is malware already out there for fully patched W2K boxes. You MUST firewall EVERY windows box--PERIOD.
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As a support technician at an ISP, I really appreciate this. Now customers will finally have less-susceptible computers while they click on every popup ad they see.
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If everyone thought like you, Technical Support would never exist. Your attitude stinks, and your comments are foul.
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err uhh...?
I don't get it.
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And also as a PC technician, I can look forward to a lot more work fixing up boxes destroyed by SP2. Yay for me. :p
Still, if you want to block it, just use your firewall and block Automatic Updates. Then grab all the regular patches from Windows Update.
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Naysayers, put two and two together: IF SERVICE PACK 2 IN AND OF ITSELF "DESTROYS" PEOPLES COMPUTERS, HOW COME IT WORKS ON ANYBODY'S COMPUTER? This is not hardware, people!!! There is not an "intermittent short" in the executable, no defective capacitor that makes it work sometimes and fail other times. The problem IS ON YOUR COMPUTER. It's incompatable software, period. MS makes its software compatable therefore it must lie on your 3rd party software. I take phone calls from business and home computer users every day, and the only times I see it fail is, in order of the most frequent calls (from most to least):
1. SP2 crashes during install if you're infected with IWORM.NETSKY.P (don't laugh--I've had 37 calls on this issue alone, even on University computers!)
2. SP2 will fail to install properly and may lead to system instability if any known version of TV Media Viewer is installed (adware).
3. Mcafee antivirus is not updated (usually the user has an old expired trial that came on his or her pc that was never uninstalled).
4. Norton/Symantec antivirus isn't up to date (same issue as with Mcafee usually)
5. Old versions of Command AV are incompatible and no free update is available for it.
ALL OF THESE ISSUES ARE IN THE MICROSOFT KB.
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ISP? Hopefully not Comcast, eh? ;)
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lol nope. not Comcast ;-)
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Exactly.
Well said.
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Too bad. they did not stop the pirated version. Now pirated version of windows XP still running without problems.
if Microsoft force it at least to verify it is legal or not.
if it is illegal they will not be able to use the Windows XP anymore.
and the rest is OK to use or not using the SP2 for the moment.
I hope Microsoft working on it.
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"Foul language and personal attacks will not be tolerated."
...hmmm
**EDIT**
yeah, nice one editing out your comments...
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Looks like i'll need to setup my firewall to block it. Evertime i;ve installed it, my comp just blue screens and i have to reformat :/
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Did you ever consider that maybe there was software on your machine that was flakey and causing the problem?
Run Ad-Aware and a virus scan, clear out temp files, and remove any Startup programs that aren't necessary. Then make sure your other apps are reasonably up-to-date and disable other firewalls until AFTER the install is finished.
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I'd recommend a couple of solutions:
1. just stop it, then get your updates from bigFix-- you can pick & choose what to install for both windows & office: http://download.bigfix.com/update/bf1760.exe Same can be done with nLite or Autopatcher XP(or 2K, 2K3 versions)-- with additional extra benefits part of these two apps.
An added benefit of big fix is that often it's a good alternative when some upgrade at windows update has install problems.
2. Alternately, give SP2 one more chance by overinstalling Windows with SP2 slipstreamed with it--
either w/ Autopatcher's AutoStreamer: http://www.autopatcher.com/autostreamer.html
or do it yourself: more on that at MSFN forums in slipstreaming, nLite, etc. dedicated threads.
PS: may not even have to slipstream, just the regular Autopatcher may get SP2 installed ok-- as it's already 'slipstreamed' with all the other previous upgrades and the install procedure has been designed to overcome install bugs of some patches-- that & hardware tweaks performed may do the trick, in fact: i would try this first-- this is how many overcame similar SP1 issues back in the day...
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That is most likely the problem. There are several programs out there that stop SP2 from installing and giving "blue screens". Adware/Spyware the biggest lot.
I know that there are several larger companies with IT programs that may have issues with SP2 due to some conflict with software, but MS(as stated) has given notice of theses issues. Companies that are not moving fast enough to fix/patch their software to work with SP2 should be the ones that concern be directed towards. People that have cracked copies, shoud just deal with it - and shut up or put up($).
Every machine I encounter(business or residential) gets SP2. It is rare that I encounter a true problem, but usually a printer or some small software program that will need to be updated on the machine to run correctly. Those people that run by the rule "if it isn't broke, don't fix-it" are only asking for problems. Good IT departments and good business practice is to keep your machines up to snuff with regard to security. Don't complain to MS if there are security issues if you are not willing to update as necessary. Security is an ongoing and developing process and it will continue to be so.
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Funny how all these morons rip SP2 but if ANY other software on their computer has an update, they are first in line to update it.
Oh, and they are also first in line to complain about the windows flaws which are addressed in SP2.
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i have it and i have not had any problems with it i dont get it all you people do is complain no wonder why microsoft hate people cause they complain soo much
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Very, very good point about anti-spywares preventing install--
often it's not enough to de-activate them all-- some of them need to be totally uninstalled in order to allow the install(or settings, connection, etc. changes) to proceed. Two examples that readily come to mind: if you have SpywareGuard, deactivate it; if you have CA, E-Trust, ZA-- you may need to totally uninstall it & then re-install it afterwards. Ditto for AV...
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come one, lets stop with the name calling. this board is for debate, did you ever stop to think that just maybe you are not right, maybe you are not in fact, perfect? Maybe you do not know everything?
Service packs are major changes done to windows, updating an application for windows here and there is not a major change. I'm not complaining that the service pack exists, i'm complaining that they are force-feeding it. Yeah Yeah, technically, you don't have to install it, but being denied access to future minor updates simply because you don't have the service pack installed - i think that is cruel, leaving those that aren'd ready for service pack with a hard choice.
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it's ok, you might understand one day, just as i may understand why they force feed service pack. currently, i haven't seen any good reason to do so.
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